The Devolution Is In The Details

The "Gas Tax Holiday" debate points up a key difference between Clinton and Obama, but not the difference Clinton hopes. Clinton has made a point of taking positions that can be explained in a single sentence that appeals viscerally to voters, regardless of whether those positions are actually good policy.

The most recent example is the gas tax: "Hillary wants the oil companies to pay for the gas tax this summer - so you don’t have to." However, economists universally agree that a gas tax holiday "would generate major profits for oil companies rather than significantly lowering prices for consumers," "would encourage people to keep buying costly imported oil and do nothing to encourage conservation," and "would provide very little relief to families feeling squeezed."

Obama's position is that the economists are right, and what the people deserve is a comprehensive fix, not a band-aid. Unfortunately, a comprehensive fix is complicated to explain and even more complicated to get properly reported in the press. As articulated by Obama, it sounds like this: "That's why we'll put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use it to help Indiana families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs. We'll also take steps to reduce the price of oil and increase transparency in how prices are set so we can ensure that energy companies aren't bending the rules. And to help Indiana families meet the rising cost of gas, we'll put a middle class tax cut in their pockets that will save them $1,000 a year, and we'll eliminate income taxes altogether for seniors making less than $50,000."

Clinton and McCain have both shown their willingness to believe that a good idea will devolve to into a political disaster if it cannot be easily explained. Barack Obama is unwilling to compromise good policy for political expediency.

When Barack Obama is sworn into the office next January, we will put to rest forever the idea that Americans are simply too inattentive and disinterested to be swayed by an argument that requires polysyllabic words. We have insisted for generations on free, quality high school education for all our people. It is time to believe in the return from that investment.